


The Biology of Love

by rubberglue



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-16
Updated: 2013-02-16
Packaged: 2017-11-29 12:02:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,684
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/686733
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rubberglue/pseuds/rubberglue
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>High school AU. Gwen has a crush on the unattainable Morgana and a secret friend she might be falling in love with.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Biology of Love

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Femslash February. Warnings for fluff without plot. Also, very likely to contain OOC elements. Inspired by [this](http://lefayss.tumblr.com/post/42439420515/morgwen-modern-au-high-school-it-all-began).

Her heart pounds and she is fairly certain that her palms are damp. Mrs Patel is talking about safety measures or something. She’s not sure because her brain can barely process the fact that sitting next to her is Morgana Pendragon. Morgana Pendragon with her aristocratic posture, porcelain skin and flashing eyes. Morgana Pendragon whose family after which the school library is named. Morgana Pendragon who Gwen has crushed on forever but never spoken to. Morgana Pendragon.

One moment, she’s Guinevere Thomas, vice-president of the student council, model student, textbook on the table, all ready for lesson. The next, as Morgana slides gracefully into the seat next to her, she is a just a pile of jello. Merlin smirks at her from across the aisle and she pointedly ignores him, her eyes focuses on Mrs Patel despite the overwhelming urge to turn and stare at Morgana. For the whole lesson, Mrs Patel drones on about lab safety and equipment and Gwen desperately tries to stop her mind from wandering.

Then Morgana asks her a question. And amazingly, she answers without saying anything dumb or confessing her feelings. Morgana smiles and Gwen feels her whole body respond like a flower in the sunlight. They whisper all through class, rolling their eyes at Mrs Patel’s nagging, sniggering at the drawings of vaginas and penises in their biology textbook and sighing at how slow the clock moves. Gwen is floating on a cloud until the bell rings and Morgana gives her a casual wave and leaves the class arm in arm with Leon Knight. Merlin wraps a comforting arm around her, smiling wryly. They are from different worlds. Gwen needs to remember that.

It’s February and the student council has arranged a game where they write notes to a randomly selected person in secret. Gwen receives her first note from her secret friend. It’s simple with a flower and heart doodled in the corner. It’s silly but it makes her smile and she stuffs it into her bag. Later she will write her response. She peers over at Merlin who is scowling at his note. With a shake of his head, he brushes off her questions, then suggest they head to their favourite coffee shop for a drink.

Over the next week, biology lessons are the highlight of her day. During lessons, they giggle over silly things and school gossip. Morgana Pendragon is simply Morgana - the girl with the hearty laugh and snarky wit. And for that one hour, Gwen pretends that she’s actually interesting to Morgana, that they are friends of some sort, not difficult when Morgana is draping her arm around her shoulder, whispering into her ear and sometimes pushing her hair out of her face. The magic disappears when the bell rings and Gwen retreats to the comfort of her usual group and Morgana saunters off, laughing with hers. 

Another note appears in her locker again, even before Gwen replied to the first one. Guilt swamps her. It asks about her again and mentions their admiration of what she brought up at the student council meeting the day before. Gwen can’t help the smile that spreads on her face as she fingers the note. It’s not Merlin - the handwriting is far from his messy scrawl - and she doesn’t have any idea who it is, although she supposes that is the whole point of the game. During English, she scribbles an answer. Merlin looks on in amusement and she smiles, rolling her eyes at him, before taking his hand as they walk home together. She notices that he tossed his note away. 

Morgana waves at her in the canteen the next day which makes Gwen’s heart jump. But then she turns back to chat with Mithian and when the two of them glance at her, Gwen is certain that they are talking about her. Eira, Gwaine’s on and off girlfriend, shoots her an unfriendly glare - nothing unusual - but it hurts more than usual. And when the three girls laugh at something after glancing at her, her heart sinks. Merlin shoves a muffin at her. Yet, as Morgana and her group leave the canteen, Morgana walks past her and grins, saying she’ll see her at biology. Merlin tells her she’s hopeless as a smile finds its way to her face and refuses to leave. All through tutoring, she’s in a bubbly mood. Even her tutee notices.

There’s another note for her. It’s longer, chatty and it makes Gwen smile. They share a love for romantic comedies although her secret friend insists that it’s a deep dark secret and donuts. Gwen quickly pens a reply, sharing a little gossip she heard about the principal and agreeing that the rule about the length of skirts in the school was ridiculous. It doesn’t take long for a reply to reach her and she too quickly dashes off a response in Maths.

And so Gwen’s life takes on this slightly strange rhythm where she scribbles notes to her secret friend and crushes harder on Morgana in Biology class. Merlin knows of course but he is wary of the former and exasperated by the latter. Tell her, he says every other day but he doesn’t seem to understand how it isn’t as easy as it sounds. There’s no need to worry about being rejected when you don’t give people a chance to. 

Gwen and Morgana remain friendly in class. They laugh, they gossip, they even share secrets. Morgana tells her about the slowly deteriorating relationship between her and her father and complains about her younger step-brother. Gwen shares about her mother’s death. And there are times when Morgana would touch her, on the shoulder, on the cheek, on her hand and Gwen would imagine that maybe Morgana likes her more than she thinks, but outside class, they keep separate lives. While Mithian smiles and is friendly - saying the occasional hello - Eira continues to glare at her. 

Sometimes Morgana mentions somewhat offhandedly that Gwen should get together with them outside school but Gwen always keeps her response non-committal. When Morgana doesn’t insist, she ignores the pang of disappointment. Instead she starts to confide in her secret friend who seems to be in the same boat, loving someone out of reach. Their notes come fast and furious. Eventually they make a pact. They will both at least make the first move with their respective crushes. Somehow, even though she has no idea who she made the pact with, Gwen feels strength in numbers. Merlin grins and wishes her luck. 

The next day, Merlin is in a snotty mood, having had a run in with Nimueh - they have been at each other’s throats since they stepped into school many years ago - and he wants to mope at home, listening to Death Cab for Cutie with his best friend. So when for the first time Morgana casually asks her if she wants to watch a movie - one they just talked about in biology class - she shakes her head. Morgana shrugs and walks off. Gwen glances at a moping Merlin and wonders if he knows what a good friend she is. 

Her secret friend is in a bad mood, Merlin is in a bad mood so it’s no wonder Gwen is feeling tetchy that morning. It doesn’t help that she overheard Mithian tell Leon that Morgana fancies herself in love. And later, Eira makes a snide remark about her hair. So when, during biology class, Morgana covers her hand with hers and asks Gwen if anything is wrong, she snatches her hand away and mutters a denial. She thinks she sees hurt flash in Morgana’s eyes but it quickly disappears and Gwen convinces herself she is mistaken. She spends the rest of the class quietly.

And after that, things just go downhill. Merlin continues to mope, over what he refuses to share and there’s a chill between Morgana and her. Sure they talk during class but the whispers and the giggles are few and far between. Nothing personal is discussed anymore. And outside of class, Morgana no longer waves to her. Gwen tells herself, she never expected anything more - she definitely never expected Morgana to fall for her. The only light in her life that week is her secret friend. They talk of movies and politics. Of dreams and hopes. Their notes stretch pages and Gwen thinks that maybe this is love. Not that silly, foolish, pointless lust she has for Morgana. At the very least, her secret friend seemed to like her.

It’s Valentine’s week and suddenly Merlin is all smiles and happiness. When she finally tells him about her feelings for Morgana and her secret friend, he flops on her bed and laughs. Wouldn’t it be great if you could merge the two, he muses as he tosses a pillow at her. She rolls her eyes at him before hitting him with a cushion. Then he tells her he kissed Nimueh and suddenly Gwen understands his brilliant mood.

Secret friends are about to be revealed on Valentine’s and Gwen is bursting with excitement. She’s even put the strain between her and Morgana at the back of her mind. When she receives the envelope that contains the name of the person she’s been exchanging notes with, her hand is shaking too much. Merlin sighs and opens it up for her. His eyebrow quirk and he smiles wryly before showing her the piece of paper. Gwen looks at it in stunned silence, then shoves it into her pocket, ignoring the laughter and squeals of the people around her as they discover their secret friends.

Like she does every lesson, Morgana slides into the chair next to her. They look at each other, then Morgana pushes a note to her. The writing is familiar, the paper the same one she’s received regularly over the past two weeks. 

“I made a pact,” says Morgana staring straight ahead. 

Taking out a pen, Gwen scribbles on the note, “I like you too.”

They spend the rest of the lesson holding hands under the table and not listening to Mrs Patel.


End file.
